Israel Bombards Rafah ahead of Talks Aimed at Sealing Truce

Israel carried out strikes on the Gazan city of Rafah overnight as it sought to put "pressure" on Hamas ahead of talks in Egypt on Tuesday aimed at sealing a truce proposal endorsed by the group.
After having vowed for weeks to push into the southern border town, Israel called on Monday for Palestinians in eastern Rafah to leave for an "expanded humanitarian area" ahead of a ground incursion.
An AFP correspondent in the city reported heavy bombardment throughout the night, while the Kuwaiti hospital there said Tuesday in an updated toll that 11 people had been killed and dozens of others injured in Israeli strikes.
After talks earlier in the day failed to produce an agreement, Hamas said Monday evening that it had informed mediators Egypt and Qatar of its "approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire" in the seven-month-old war, prompting cheering crowds to take to the streets of Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the proposal "is far from Israel's essential demands", but the government would send negotiators for talks "to exhaust the potential for arriving at an agreement".
In the meantime, it added, "Israel is continuing the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to advance the release of our hostages and the other objectives of the war".
Close Israeli ally the United States said it was "reviewing" the Hamas response.
Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya told the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel that the proposal agreed to by Hamas involved a three-phase truce.
He said it includes a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war and a hostage-prisoner exchange, with the goal of a "permanent ceasefire".
Qatar said that it was sending a delegation to Cairo on Tuesday morning to resume negotiations in the "hope that the talks will culminate in reaching an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza strip".
A senior Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Israel must now decide whether it accepts or "obstructs" a truce.
'Intolerable' invasion
Renewing the call for people to leave Rafah late Monday, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said "aircraft targeted more than 50 terror targets in the Rafah area" throughout the day.
Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said Monday night that it had fired rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel in response.
International alarm has been steadily building about the consequences of an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah, situated on the border with Egypt.
Egypt, the main conduit for aid trucks into Gaza, has been a key mediator in truce efforts and has resolutely opposed any mass displacement of refugees from the strip into its territory.
An Israeli incursion into the city would be "intolerable", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday, calling on Israel and Hamas "to go an extra mile" to reach a ceasefire deal.
"This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences, and because of its destabilizing impact in the region," Guterres said.
Egypt's foreign ministry warned of "grave humanitarian risks" for the more than one million Gazans sheltering there and urged Israel to "exercise the utmost restraint".
Jordanian King Abdullah II asked US President Joe Biden in talks Monday to intervene to stop a "new massacre" in Rafah.
In a conversation with Netanyahu on Monday, Biden restated "his clear position" opposing an invasion of the city, the White House said.
Netanyahu has vowed to eventually send ground troops into Rafah regardless of any truce, saying it needs to root out Hamas's remaining forces to prevent a repeat of the bloody October 7 attacks that sparked the war in Gaza.
'Thousands' leaving
Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a retaliatory offensive that has killed at least 34,735 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Militants also abducted 250 hostages on October 7, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, including 35 whom the military says are dead.
The Hostage Families and Missing Families Forum said in a statement after Hamas's announcement Monday that "now is the time for all that are involved to fulfill their commitment and turn this opportunity into a deal for the return of all the hostages".
About 1.2 million people are sheltering in Rafah, the World Health Organization says.
Hamas said Israel was planning a large-scale offensive "without regard for the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe" in the besieged Gaza Strip or for the fate of hostages held there.
Israel said its "limited" and temporary Rafah evacuation order aimed "to get people out of harm's way".
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported "thousands" of Gazans leaving the city's east.
'Where can we go?'
Israel's military in a statement urged those in eastern Rafah to head for the "expanded humanitarian area" at Al-Mawasi on the coast.
But aid groups said Al-Mawasi was not ready for such an influx.
Asked how many people should move, an Israeli military spokesman said: "The estimate is around 100,000 people."
The Red Crescent said the designated evacuation zone hosts around 250,000 people, many of them already uprooted from elsewhere.
Palestinian Abdul Rahman Abu Jazar, 36, said the area "does not have enough room for us to make tents" because it is already full.
"Where can we go?" he asked.
The main aid group in Gaza, UNRWA, said an Israeli Rafah offensive would mean "more civilian suffering and deaths", adding it was "not evacuating".

The Lebanese army said on Wednesday it was moving additional troops into the country's south on Wednesday to extend state authority in coordination with the UN peacekeeping mission there.

“The concerned military units are moving from several areas to the South Litani Sector, where they will be stationed in the locations designated for them,” the Lebanese military said in its first statement since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire went into effect.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israeli troops would pull out of Lebanon and Hezbollah is required to move its forces north of the Litani River, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.

The ceasefire agreement gives Israel and Hezbollah fighters 60 days to withdraw from areas of southern Lebanon near the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers will patrol the area, and an international committee will monitor compliance.

The Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines during the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, although dozens of its soldiers have been killed amid the fighting.

Meanwhile, international aid groups welcomed the ceasefire and urge donors to provide funding to help rebuild parts of Lebanon and assist the displaced.

The aid groups are concerned about the aftershocks of the war on Lebanon’s already struggling economy. With more than 1.2 million people displaced, they warned that the damage would leave many struggling and without homes.

More than 100,000 homes have been either partially or fully destroyed across southern Lebanon, Bekaa and Beirut, the International Rescue Committee said.

Mercy Corps said that half of Lebanon’s population now lives below the poverty line. It called on donors to fulfill pledges to support immediate humanitarian efforts and the long-term recovery.

“There will undoubtedly be a great deal of grief and trauma. Many will have no homes to return to, no schools for their children, and livelihoods destroyed,” Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary-General Jan Egeland said.

Israel Bombards Rafah ahead of Talks Aimed at Sealing Truce